SCOPESCOPE (Sustainability Co-Creation Programme)

As the global economy is becoming increasingly integrated and interdependent, the relationship between business and society is becoming more complex. Corporate management has been significantly impacted by the globalization of business, increasing new regulations, international accords such as the Paris Agreement and SDGs, and the emergence of civil society organizations. Under these circumstances, businesses today are expected to integrate social and environmental aspects into corporate management and achieve sustainable growth. In this course students will learn various topics related to business and society and understand necessary conditions for businesses to achieve sustainable growth.

Students should aim at the following goals:
(1)Understand various topics and theories related to business and society.
(2)Analyze actual business cases with analytical frameworks students learn in class.

Among diploma policies,"DP2" is related

英語 / English

Class will consist of lectures, students’ presentations, and discussions. Feedback on assignments submitted by students will be provided in class or through the Learning Management System.

あり / Yes

なし / No

授業形態/methods of teaching：対面/face to face

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

Week 1[対面/face to face]：Orientation

Understand the overall picture of the relationship between business and society.

Week 2[対面/face to face]：Relationship between business and society (1)

Understand companies' various stakeholders and what the companies need to do to meet their stakeholders’ needs. Case study: Starbucks

Week 3[対面/face to face]：Relationship between business and society (2)

Through case studies, understand how companies should respond to their stakeholders when they are in crisis. Case study: Johnson & Johnson

Week 4[対面/face to face]：SDGs and business

Understand Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relationship with businesses.

Week 5[対面/face to face]：Business and human rights (1)
Overview

Understand why companies must respect human rights in their business activities.

Week 6[対面/face to face]：Business and human rights (2)

Understand the importance of companies respecting human rights within their supply chains through case studies.
Case studies: Rana Plaza incident and supply chain management.

Week 7[対面/face to face]：Business and human rights (3)

Understand the current status and challenges of companies’ efforts to respect human rights through international comparison.

Week 8[対面/face to face]：Business and human capital (1)

Understand the relationship between business and human capital.

Week 9[対面/face to face]：Business and human capital (2)

Understand the effects of companies enriching their human capital.
Case study: Starbucks

Week 10[対面/face to face]：The role of business leaders (1)

Business leaders’ commitment to society
Case study: Multiple Japanese companies

Week 11[対面/face to face]：The role of business leaders (2)

Business leaders’ commitment to society
Case study: multiple Japanese companies

Week 12[対面/face to face]：The role of business leaders (3)

Solving social problems through leaders’ commitment and knowledge creation
Case study: multiple Japanese companies.

Week 13[対面/face to face]：Tackling social issues and business development

Analyze cases where companies have developed new markets by tackling social issues.
Case study: Novo Nordisk, Unilever

Week 14[対面/face to face]：Wrap-up discussion

What is a win-win relationship for business and society?

If students want to maximize their learning effectiveness, approximately 4 hours study (2 hours for preparation and 2 hours for review) for each class is required. Also, it can be a good exercise if students follow major economic and business topics reported in the media and try to think about them from the viewpoint of business and society.

Selected chapters of the following literature will be reviewed. Details will be explained in the first class.
(1) Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi (2019) “The Wise Company: How Companies Create Continuous Innovation” Oxford Univ Press.
(2) Masaatsu Takehara, Naoya Hasegawa (2020) “Sustainable Management of Japanese Entrepreneurs in Pre-War Period from the Perspective of SDGs and ESG” Palgrave

Reference will be introduced in class as appropriate.

Grading will be decided based on the following criteria:
(1) Active class participation:30%
(2) Students' presentation in class: 35%
(3) Final writing assignments:35%

Details will be explained in the first class.
Please note that students who miss 4 classes or more without justification cannot receive credit.

If students request, they can present in class about business and society-related research topics that they are independently researching.

When students make their presentation in class, they may need a device such as PC.